Quality opportunity for Blake Griffin in Motown

The biggest sports transaction of early 2018 featured star forward Blake Griffin from the Los Angeles Clippers who was traded to the Detroit Pistons. The man known for his interesting and creative commercials and posterizing many NBA players over his career was a focal point of a big NBA trade that also featured guard Avery Bradley and forward Tobias Harris. Although the trade included six NBA players, Griffin is the headliner of the group who has been a multiple time All-Star. Being traded months after signing a max-contract to be the face of the Clippers franchise is jarring to Blake Griffin but he has to look at his arrival in Detroit as a nice opportunity to be an important factor for a Detroit Pistons franchise for the near future.

During most his career with the Clippers, Blake Griffin was part of teams that had success from a Clippers franchise that had experienced several decades of futility prior to his arrival. Often the failures of the Clippers to go deep in the Western Conference playoffs were blamed to Griffin’s injuries, coach Doc Rivers, and former teammate Chris Paul. When Paul moved from Los Angeles to Houston last summer, Griffin resigned with the Clippers to presumably be the “man” for the Clippers for the present and future. He now joins a Detroit Pistons franchise that has been to the playoffs just once since 2009.

The Detroit Pistons feature an up-and-comer in center Andre Drummond, who will remind Blake Griffin of his former teammate DeAndre Jordan in multiple ways. Both Drummond and Jordan are among the NBA’s best rebounders and are more athletic than most NBA centers. Griffin’s creativity from the high post should give Drummond some easy lob dunks and most importantly Blake Griffin immediately becomes the first offensive option on a Pistons team that lacked anyone who could consistently score 20 points a game.

Blake Griffin doesn’t need to lead the Pistons past the first round this year for this trade to be a success for the Pistons. He has to be more durable than he has in recent years, create offense for himself and his new teammates like Luke Kennard and Stanley Johnson, and be a force on the fast break. He is a legitimate NBA star who is still under 30 years old. While he will be paid handsomely for four more seasons following this NBA season, Griffin needs to look at and seize the opportunity to forge a new identity in the Eastern Conference with a new team in the short term.